Rain Policy/MUDD Hotline

RAIN CLOSURE POLICY

It is always the
City’s goal to provide high quality and safe fields. Unfortunately, some
conditions require the City to close fields for short periods for
safety reasons and to avoid extensive damage to City facilities.

As
a general rule, sports fields are closed for a minimum of 24-48 hours
after a rain event. This usually means that the fields are closed the
day it stops raining and the following day. Starting with the second
day, the field conditions are evaluated to determine when they can be
reopened.

The conditions at our sports parks vary greatly. For
instance, Hero’s Park tends to have wetter soil conditions because it is
in a flood plain and has clay soils that tend to retain water instead
of allowing free flowing drainage. At the other end of the spectrum are
the fields at the Lake Forest Sports Park where the City designed the
soils under the natural turf fields to have better overall drainage.
After a rain event, the City groups local parks based on the soil
conditions and this can result in some fields being reopened sooner than
others.

Athletic use of wet or saturated natural turf fields can
be unsafe for users and may cause extensive field damage resulting in
field closures and costly renovations. Please use good judgment at all
times when using our fields.

The following applies to all natural turf fields.

-
The fields are closed when it is raining, regardless of the intensity
of the rainfall. If it beings to rain during a game, you are required to
stop play to avoid potential injury and damage to the field.

- In
the event of rainfall (anything more than a very short duration light
drizzle on a dry field), the fields are closed for a minimum of 24
hours. Rainfall of any typical duration usually results in the fields
being closed the day it stops raining and at least the following day.

-
The fields are evaluated every day following a rain event by City staff
and/or City contractors to determine when the fields can be reopened
for play. Some fields may be reopened sooner than others, because the
conditions vary from park to park.

- Failure to abide by this
policy and/or comply with field closure signage and/or direction from
City staff on the use of fields may result in the forfeiture of the
field deposit and/or loss of use of the fields.

FIELD CLOSURE HOTLINE

To
check whether fields are open at any given time, contact the City’s
Fields Hotline at (949) 461-3595. The hotline is only updated when
fields are closed for maintenance or because of inclement weather.